Refinish Table

Refinishing The Dining Room Table

When I asked all of you what I should do to decorate my dining room, one of the things that I heard (and had been thinking about) was to refinish the dining room table.

My Inspiration Picture

I found an inspiration picture on Thrifty 101′s blog. I loved how the black shiny table top looked. I had been wondering what it would look like to have the two tone with black on top and after seeing hers, I was sold! What was even nicer was that she had the whole tutorial on how she did it. I followed it step by step too!

I first sanded the whole thing. Correction – the kids sanded 90% of it. I just got the places that were missed. You can see more on my sanding adventures on my post from yesterday about the Skil sander.

Once it was sanded I made sure that I wiped off all the dust particles. Then I primed the whole table.

Then I started with the legs. I used Dover white Krylon spray paint. (I have no idea why I didn’t get a picture of it… I have used it on anything “white” in my dining room.)

It took several coats. I was having a difficult time because the weather was not cooperating. It was very rainy and cold. So I was waiting for the proper weather. But I figured it made much more sense to do the white legs (with spray paint) first… then then finish with the black.

Next step…. start painting the top of the table. I made sure the legs were finished first. I wanted a high gloss finish, so I made sure to pick out the high gloss. I also made sure it was water based paint, since it was our dining room table (a point that Michelle pointed out on her post)

The guy from Home Depot recommended using a sponge roller to put on the paint. He said it won’t give you the lines that paintbrushes do and will give a smoother look than a regular roller.

The weather was being a little kinder, so it didn’t take me quite as long. I put on three coats.

The next step was to apply the coat of Polycrylic coat. I picked out the same thing that Michelle used (I told you I followed her directions! Why recreate the wheel?)

What I wasn’t real excited about with this step was that you have to sand inbetween coats. I was scared to death to do that first sanding! Of course it looked all scratched up and I wondered how the next coat would look clear and smooth. But it did. The can recommended three coats.

After the second coat…. I came out to find several little “star” shapes appear in the top coat. It was almost like a wind shield crack look.

Of course I was kind of freaking out thinking the whole thing was going to be ruined. But I have no idea why it did this. It was still a little cooler that day (60′s) and had been rainy the night before. That is the only thing I can think of. So…. I decided to sand a little deeper on those spots to see if they would go away.

You can imagine after the 3rd coat of top coat I was very scared to come out and see if it had happened again. I was relieved to see it was ok. There is still one small place that you can see if you look for it. But not bad, and I don’t think anyone else will notice it.

So here it is…

I’ll give you a little sneak peak of it in the dining room. But since I’m not revealing my dining room makeover for a few more days… you can’t see too much.

I am loving it. The chairs have not been done yet. I am going to paint those all black.

Hi- I’m wondering how your dining room table is holding up. I’m thinking of painting mine but it’s used often and I don’t want to have to baby it or have to keep repainting it. It’s been 3 years so I figure you can give a gauge of durability now.

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Hi it’s me… Sandy

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I'm a Professional Organizer, Mom and Step Mom to eight, and a Senior Content Manager for Collective Bias.

Writer, Amy Trauntvein

Amy will be writing on family, cooking, gardening, traveling and doing reviews for you!